Presented by Pastor Roland England and friends
Sunday, June 11, at 2:00 p.m.
St. James United Church of Christ,
10 East Broad Way, Lovettsville, Va.
On Sunday June 11, as the next presentation in the Lovettsville Historical Society’s monthly lecture series, we will explore the turbulent history of this remarkable church, from its founding in the 1830s, to its role during the Civil War, through its closing in 1970, and its reopening in 2000 as St. Paul’s Community Church.
St. Paul’s was founded in 1834 as a separate “preaching point” of Lovettsville’s New Jerusalem Lutheran Church, which had been in existence since 1765. Up until the Civil War, St. Paul’s was part of the “Lovettsville Charge” of the Evangelical Lutheran Synod of Maryland. By 1840, revivals were being held and a “considerable degree of religious excitement” was reported.
During the Civil War, St. Paul’s was used as a hospital, and its grounds were also a staging area for raids against Union troops.
After the Civil War, and for the next one hundred years, St. Paul’s was affiliated with nearby Lutheran churches in Virginia, West Virginia, and Maryland. As with many small rural churches, it could not sustain a full-time minister, so it joined in a “charge” or parish in which one minister served a number of small congregations.
In 1970, St. Paul’s closed its doors. Thirty years later, through the extraordinary efforts of Pastor England and local residents, they bought the old church property for $1.00, and reopened it as “The Christian Community at St. Paul’s.”
What will the coming years bring? On June 11, we will learn not only about St. Paul’s past, but the hopes for its future.
Pastor England will be joined in this presentation by Richard Gillespie (on the Civil War years), and Edward Spannaus (on St. Paul’s early history).
The presentation will be held at St. James United Church of Christ, at 10 East Broad Way, in Lovettsville. The program will be followed, as is customary, by questions and discussion.
The Zoom link will be sent out before the lecture. To request the Zoom link, please RSVP to events@LovettsvilleHistoricalSociety.org.
Admission is free, but donations and are welcome to defray expenses of the program and to support the activities of the Lovettsville Historical Society.
For more information, visit www.LovettsvilleHistoricalSociety.org or email events@lovettsvillehistoricalsociety.org.